Work Reform

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

Higher wages for underpaid workers.
Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
Better and fewer working hours.
Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

founded 2 years ago

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How do I find a job that's unionized outside the trades? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/workreform

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Most communities have trade unions I could contact if I worked in a trade. But what if I'm an office worker? A chef? An IT person? How do I find a union job?

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[–] Suck_on_my_Presence 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don't know how true this is across the board, but I'm an office worker for a power company and a lot of the people in my department are union because we work with the stuff around what the electricians and gas guys do. So maybe it's worth looking into jobs that support the trades to see if the workers around such are unionized as well?

For what it's worth, and more specificity, I do GIS mapping for electric and gas utilities in the area my company covers.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I would add one caveat to that: Not all staff/admin positions at unionized manufacturing plants are part of the Union. Was an office worker at a metals plant and all managers and office folk there were expressly forbidden from joining the union (not sure of the legality tbh). Managers I sort of get because the Union leader thought they would have undue influence on members' decisions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Managers never belong in the union, for a variety of reasons. Primarily because they don't need the protections that unions provide as much; historically they've been the ones causing the problems the unions were formed to fight.

Non-manager office workers is probably up to each local. They also don't usually need the protections, but there are some unions for them even if they can't join the trades union.